Current Affairs April 2020 - Committees
1 - Empowered Group constituted to coordinate COVID-19 related Response Activities
Government has constituted an Empowered Group chaired by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant for coordinating with Private Sector, NGOs and International Organisations for COVID-19-related Response Activities. It will address the issues pertaining to identification of problems, effective solutions and formulation of plans with three groups of stakeholders.
The Empowered Group had detailed meetings with UN Resident Coordinator for India, and country heads of WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, ILO, UN Women, UN-Habitat, FAO, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank. UN in India has built a Joint Programme Response Plan and submitted to NITI Aayog, defining their clear activities.
2 - Devi Shetty committee recommended continuance of lockdown at all hotspots in Karnataka state
In Karnataka, a Government appointed Committee headed by cardiologist Dr. Devi Shetty has recommended to continue lockdown at all the hotspots in the state with high prevalence of COVID-19 positive cases. It has suggested that close observation of the pandemic should continue for next six months.
The committee has recommended closure of schools and colleges till May end. It has also suggested that inter-state flight and train services and AC buses must not operate now.
3 - UGC constituted committee to promote online learning amid nationwide lockdown
University Grants Commission constituted a committee to promote online learning and look after the examinations and academic calendar in the present circumstances. UGC will issue guidelines for universities in consultation with Union HRD Ministry to maintain social distancing, online learning and e-education.
The University Grants Commission of India is a statutory body set up by the Government of India in accordance to the UGC Act 1956 under Ministry of Human Resource Development.
4 - IMF Chief named Raghuram Rajan to key external advisory group
IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva named former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and 11 others to her External Advisory Group. The group will provide perspectives from around the globe on key developments and policy issues including policy responses to the exceptional challenges the world is facing due to the novel Coronavirus and its economic impact.
Other members of the group include:
Tharman Shanmugaratnam, senior minister of Singapore and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore
Kristin Forbes, Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia Lord Mark Malloch Brown, former United Nations deputy secretary-general
5 - Inter-Ministerial Committee constituted by Government of India
The Government of India has constituted inter-ministerial teams, 2 for Gujarat, one for each Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Maharashtra. The teams will make on-spot assessment of violations of lock down in the country.
The IMCTs focus on a range of issues including compliance and implementation of lockdown measures as per guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act 2005. These teams would use expertise of the Centre and augment State efforts to fight and contain spread of COVID-19 effectively.
